1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates, generally, to motorized game decoys, and in particular to a motorized game decoy designed attract wild game by simulating the appearance, movements, sounds, and smells of live game animals.
2. Description of Related Art
Wild game decoys are used by hunters to attract wild game, thereby increasing the hunter's chances of viewing, trapping, and/or shooting a wild game animal. Traditional hunting techniques employ the use of wild game decoys that merely simulate the physical appearance of a wild game animal. Such decoys have achieved limited success when used to attract winged game animals, such as ducks and doves, but are generally not as successful when used to attract more discerning and attentive game, such as deer, moose, elk, caribou, wild turkey, and pronghorn antelope. In order to attract game animals of the latter type, the selected decoy should simulate the appearance, movement, sounds, and smells of a live game animal. Alternatively, the selected decoy should simulate the appearance, movement, sounds, and smells of an animal that commonly appears in the natural habitat of the selected game animal.
Live game animals, and in particular deer and similar ungulate game animals, are unlike humans in that they are generally given to quiet, contemplative, and intermittent movements interspersed with periods of non-movement. Such animals also keenly sense the movements of other animals and have an exceptionally keen sense of smell. Therefore, decoys that do not move or do not emulate animal movement in a realistic manner, will drive game animals away rather than attract them to a target area.
A number of inventions have been developed to attract discerning wild game. For example, known prior art includes U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,733,178, 5,546,692, 5,791,081, 5,826,364, 5,884,427, 6,021,594, 6,070,356, and 6,092,322. Of the above decoys, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,773,178 and 5,826,364 are static decoys and thus do not involve the use of motion to attract a game animal. The rest of the aforementioned prior art decoys use motion to attract a particular game animal, but largely fail to achieve realistic game animal movement.
What is needed is a wild game decoy that overcomes the shortfalls of the devices that are currently known in the prior art. In particular, what is needed is an improved wild game decoy that simulates the appearance, movement, sounds, and smells of a live game animal. Although the desired decoy may simulate the type of game animal desired to be attracted, the game decoy should optionally simulate an animal that would commonly be found in the habitat of a selected game animal, including without limitation an armadillo, fox, coyote, or opossum.